Love warmer than the quilt

The winter was at its peak, the nights were very cold. Streets became deserted with most people having slipped into their beds. Stray dogs curled up in corners or wherever they could get some warmth.

Every year, around this time, the worst sufferers are the hundreds of poor, ill-clad and ill-fed — including beggars — who could be found anywhere in the vast cities. The harsh winters bring untold miseries to them.

One evening, 38-year-old AR, my nephew, felt the pinch himself. He saw a middle-aged man in rags collecting dry twigs, bits of discarded cardboard cartons, paper and whatever inflammable material he could lay his hands on.

He lit them up to warm his body. But the small bonfire lasted only a couple of hours. With the minimum temperature dropping continuously, the man crouched under the shade of a shop and must have spent the rest of the night in severe cold. AR was so moved by the sight that he spent almost a sleepless night. Next day, around 11pm, he drove out to see more of it for himself. He was restless and was keen to do something to alleviate the sufferings of as many people as was possible within his resources.

At one place, the young man found scores of barely-clad poor, lying on the sidewalks of a bridge. One person had cobbled up a few tattered jute bags to serve as a blanket. Another had covered himself with some newspaper sheets in a bold attempt to ward off the cold and snatch some winks of sleep.

At places, one could see an unusual coexistence between man and stray dogs. Being friends in distress, they lay virtually together, the grateful dogs providing their body heat to their hosts. Visiting other parts of the city, AR found similar moving scenes. He could not stand it any more and returned home. That very night he decided to do his bit for these deprived human beings. The next morning he went from door to door in his locality and collected old and worn out clothes.

When he distributed these old clothes, AR was virtually mobbed by those who jostled to collect what had been discarded as worthless by others. Even an ordinary cotton vest was a much sought-after item. Think about it. Something is useless for some, but is useful to others!

Moving sight

AR's eyes fell on an old, bearded person crouching inside a thin chadar (sheet). Deciding that the man deserved the quilt he had brought, he gently lifted a corner of the chadar to replace it with the quilt.

Thinking that somebody was trying to snatch away his precious chadar, the old man clutched it hard and cried out for help. But soon, the man realised that it was only being replaced by a thick quilt. AR spread it over the poor man's frail frame.

Probably, for the first time, the old man had experienced the warmth of a cotton-stuffed quilt — and the warmth of some Samaritan's affection for the have-nots. Next moment, he was praying to God to grant all the bounties of life to the donor.

The pure and sincere blessings touched AR's heart. Whatever little charity he had done had given him immense satisfaction. The poor old man's kind words, which kept ringing in his ears, impelled him further to work more for the underdog.

Since then, distributing relief of various kinds became a passion with young AR. On spotting him coming towards them with a bulging bag, they would shout, "Hey, dekho, AR bhaiyya aa gaye" (Look, Brother AR has come).

Silently, AR would thank his grandmother who had told him in his younger days how virtuous it was to do one good deed a day. And truly, it was paying dividends in his professional life.

Lalit Raizada is a freelance journalist based in India.